Frequent SNS use linked to unhappiness: study

People who spend more time on social networking sites, feel less happy, a recent study showed.

The research conducted by a neuroscience study team of University of Michigan, revealed that the amount of time spent on SNS, such as Facebook, is correlated to the level of happiness of its users.

During the two-week study on 82 young U.S. adults who have both smartphones and Facebook accounts, researchers sent text messages five times a day to estimate the participants‘ psychological well-being.

“On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. But rather than enhance well-being, we found that Facebook use predicts the opposite result -– it undermines it,” said the study leader Ethan Kross, from the University of Michigan.

According to the data unveiled by Facebook on Wednesday, Facebook’s monthly active users in South Korea are 11 million in June with 90 percent, or 9.9 million people accessed Facebook through their mobile phones.

The data also showed 6.2 million users log on to Facebook every day.

Among all the active users of Facebook, 60 percent, or 6.8 million, accessed Facebook at least once a day regardless of the device they used.

By Im Woo-jung, Intern reporter
(iwj@heraldcorp.com)